Mafia: The Old Country – 10 Quick Tips To Become A Made Man

Mafia: The Old Country is finally out for everyone, and this turn-of-the-century crime adventure plays by its own rules. It’s much closer to the original Mafia from many years ago to modern games — with an open-world that really only exists for travelling from one chapter to the next. But that doesn’t mean this game is simple. There’s a lot of mechanics unique to this game alone that are worth talking about, so here are 10 tips we have for getting the most out of the latest Mafia.

#10. Play On Hard Mode (Or Don’t)

After many hours of playing Mafia: The Old Country, we think Hard is the best way to play. Enemies aren’t aimbots and the stealth focus still gives Enzo a strong fighting chance — this mode simply forces you to content with the game’s mechanics much more. Looting bodies will get you more bandages, so you’ll rarely be caught without any healing at all. In general, hard mode changes the game in four key ways.

• Your weapons deal less damage. (Headshots still kill instantly.)
• Enemies hit harder and have higher accuracy. (Still miss constantly, especially when you’re moving.)
• You gain fewer resources from looting or pickups. (But still plenty for a fair challenge.)
• Vehicles take realistic damage from collissions.

All of these subtle changes make the game feel more like the original Mafia — tough, but very fair. Your car can get ruined, but that’s why you’ll need to play more carefully to come out on top. And you can always change the settings yourself anytime in the Settings menu, so if Hard isn’t what you’re looking for, drop it down.

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#6. Loot Everyone & Search Everywhere

Every level is packed with loot — there are chests to break open, safes to solve and collectibles to find. You’ll find valuable collectibles all over the place that can be traded for cash at the shop between large missions. Looting bodies also gets you money, and there are collectible rosary beads that provide permanent upgrades that are found all over the map. Stop and search corners of levels you haven’t fully explored — you’ll want as much money as you can get later in the game. Guns and other upgrades can be purchased with cash, so hoover up as much of it as possible.

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#8. Visit Shops Whenever You Have the Opportunity

Between missions, you’ll be free to drive or ride around the map on your own. If there’s a shop icon on the map, that means Enzo can visit. Before infiltrating the mansion in Chapter 5, you’re given an opportunity to visit the local shops. It’s a short drive but it’s always worth it to stop and trade in collectibles for coins or buy more upgrades. You can purchase guns to add to your permanent stash or rosary beads from the second-hand store that give bonuses. Guns are probably the most important, so grab your favorites — early on, we recommend the C96 automatic pistol and the Pump-Action Shotgun first.

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#7. Skip Straight To The Action

Whenever you’re driving around and hearing exposition, you’re free to skip the drive by holding the button prompt that appears in the bottom-right of the screen. This doesn’t only appear when you’re riding around with an ally. It appears when you’re driving alone too — it’s essentially the only fast-travel in the game and teleports you directly to the action. If you’re ever lost on the map or you’ve visited the shops, you can directly teleport to the mission area instead of driving around in silence.

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#6. Use The Stiletto Knife To Break Open More Chests

There are three types of knives in Mafia: The Old Country — and they’re all important for different reasons. Probably the only you’ll want the most is the Stiletto Knife, a special type that has the highest durability. That means you can break more locks and stab more bad guys before using a Whetstone to restore it. Essentially, Stiletto Knives give you the most “ammo” for your knife and the most utility. Chests are very important for survival on Hard Mode as they’ll often carry bandages, so breaking open chests is your first priority.

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#5. Use The Scannaturi Knife For Silent Ranged Kills

Because of the time period, there really aren’t any silenced guns for easy stealth takedowns. The only ranged stealth weapon you’ll have easy access to is the Scannaturi Knife — one of the three knife variants that can be thrown. It has less durability compared to the Stiletto, but that knife throw is especially powerful for making stealth faster and easier. But you’ll need to recollect the knife after every throw, or it’s gone forever. If you’re planning on getting into a knife fight, you won’t want to leave this blade behind.

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#4. Or Take Out Guys Instantly With Rasolu Knives

The Rasolu Knife is a special knife for slashing enemies to death instantly. This knife only works against regular enemies — not major bosses — but performs an insta-kill attack in melee range. Normally, Enzo needs to slash and stab enemies in melee before taking them down. This knife performs a quick instakill move in close-combat, whether you’re fighting enemies with knives or guns. Just remember it won’t work in big cinematic encounters against boss enemies. It’s really good if you keep getting caught and just want to sprint at the next guy for a takedown.

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#3. When To Dodge & When To Parry

When you are forced into a knife fight, you’ll need to learn two advanced mechanics — dodge and parry. You should learn to parry early to always open up your enemy for attacks, but dodge is important for unblockable attacks. When your opponent attacks and their knife glows, that means you can’t parry their attack. Dodge instead and they’ll be left open for attack. Learning the timing on parry is very important for boss fights, as it’s the only time you’re really guaranteed to land a hit — except when you’ve just dodged an unblockable attack.

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#2. Use Bottles & Coins For Perfect Stealth

Stealth isn’t all about killing. While there are large containers for storing bodies all over the place when in a stealth mission, you can get by almost everything with just a bottle or a coin. Coins are a throwable inventory item that distracts items, while bottles are found in the environment all over. These items don’t alert guards, but they do distract them, and they’ll distract everyone nearby, so you can distract multiple enemies at the same time. For real, unlike other games, all the guards that are close enough to hear will investigate. That actually makes stealth much easier. Whenever you encounter two dudes talking, throw a coin to make them look the other way. They’ll linger long enough, even on Hard Mode, for Enzo to stealth right past them.

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#1. Signs Will Point You In The Right Direction

There’s a very subtle in-game effect where traffic signs in the environment will change and point toward your objective. There is no waypoint system in this game, and no auto-drive, so while you can skip straight ahead, there’s another non-intrusive option for travelling to where you want to go. Just follow all the traffic signs! It’s the best way to avoid getting completely lost in Sicily.